To Serve and Protect in Nerima
by SkyStrider
Summary: Ever wonder how the police in Nerima deal with all the Martial Artists? Come join Sergeant Imia as he introduces a new transfer to the wonders and perils of Nerima. Part of the Bindings ("Kasumi's Fate") Continuum, but can be read (easily) as a standalone story.
1. The New Man

The usual disclaimer: Ranma ½ is a trademark of Rumiko Takahashi and VIZ Communications, and its characters have been borrowed without permission. This story was written for non-commercial purposes only. I do claim the characters of Sergeant Imia, Officer Kokawa, and Officer Ueda (if you want to borrow them, you only have to ask – just common courtesy after all).

While this is story is part of the Bindings ("Kasumi's Fate") continuum, it's not necessary to have read any of the previous stories. You only need to know four things:

1) Ranma and Akane are happily dating now.  
2) Kasumi and Tofu are engaged.  
3) Ranma and Ryoga have "buried the hatchet" (and not in each other skulls).  
4) Akane is aware of who P-Chan is now.

Anything else isn't important to enjoy the story (although, please feel free to read the other stories).

Onwards…

* * *

Chapter 1: The New Man

Police Sergeant Imia nodded to the officer at the Desk as he headed into his station. It was a nice Sunday morning and the weather was exceptional for late June – there was no trace of humidity at all in the air, despite the number of Jusenkyo cursed individuals on his beat. Inspector Ojima had given him a warning that his station had drawn "Bookkeeping Duty" this week. Maybe he'd take the Duty himself and use it as an excuse to stay outside today.

"Hey Sarge!" one of his men yelled out. Actually, the man was a woman – Officer Kokawa who had been with him six years. She rarely ticked him off and never bothered him unless there was something truly out of her control, so he was a little on his guard. If she was bothering to flag him down, that meant extra work had to be done.

"What's up, Kokawa? We have an outbreak of Yakuza Protection scams again?" he asked.

The officer snorted. "No. After the last set had to be cut out of that brick wall, and we charged them for the time it took and to repair the wall, we haven't heard from them since. We have a new officer starting with us today."

The Sergeant shrugged. "They have to start somewhere. What's the big deal?"

"He's not a new recruit; he's been sent to us from Minato," she told him. The Sergeant's eyebrows shot up. Kokawa continued: "You know what that means, Boss."

"Yes," Imia replied. "It means he ticked someone off and has been sent to us until he either tires of being subjugated to his Lordship," he said, placing great distaste on the last word. "Or manages to get himself on permanent disability. I wish they'd stop dumping the problem cases here – I'm getting tired of filling out the hospital forms."

"Ah, it keeps you busy," Kokawa said, busting her superior's chops.

"And what the hell makes you think I want to be busy?" he asked her.

"Well, you run a station that is only staffed at a third of what it should have," she taunted him. "You must like keeping all the overtime shifts for yourself, because heaven knows you don't give them to the rank and file. Besides, you need to get rid of the belly somehow."

"Stop talking to my wife." He hit the back of her head with the files in his hand to try and wipe that smirk off her face. It didn't work, but that didn't bother him either. "All right, give me the new guy's file. I'll see if I can talk some sense into him." Her face sobered up and she handed him the file. "By the way," he continued, "we have Bookkeeping this week. I'm thinking of taking the walkabout today. Any rumors?"

Kokawa thought for a few moments. "Yamamoto was in here earlier. Someone trashed one of his construction sites. Normally, he wouldn't care, but they wrecked a fair amount of mahogany paneling and he wants someone held accountable."

Imia snorted. "He's a merchant, Kokawa. They always want someone held accountable."

"Yeah," she agreed. "But, he was fairly polite about this one and he didn't know we had the Bookkeeping. I don't think he was here to bust your chops. Ito went to look at things…He thinks it was a Dojo War."

Imia winced. "Damn. All right. I'll look into it. Anything else?"

"Yep. One of the walls down near the library is missing. Rumors have it that it was Himself or one of his crew," Kokawa replied.

"Has Himself shown up since it happened?" Imia asked. At the shake of her head, he continued: "Then it wasn't Himself, but he knows who did it. I'll stop by and talk to him."

As a smile crossed his lips, Kokawa warned him: "Stay out of the kitchen, Boss."

"The thought never crossed my mind!" he protested.

"Not feeling well, are we?" Kokawa said sarcastically as she turned to leave. Imia let it go.

The Sergeant walked down to his office. He hoped nothing serious was waiting for him as he was actually looking forward to that walk. This business with the new guy bothered him though. Usually, when a new recruit arrived at the station, the Sergeant knew they were only here for six months or so until they were rotated out. He made a point of never having them assigned to Bookkeeping or any of the weirder things that happened in Nerima. They did their jobs, picked up experience, and moved on (for which they were eternally grateful – the Sergeant often received postcards from many of them still). Then there were the ones he thought of as "his". These came in two types – one set was the warped souls (like himself) who actually loved the cast of characters that lived in Nerima.

The other set was the outcasts who were sent to Nerima as punishment. These unfortunate souls had ticked off the powers-that-be in their efforts to rise to the top. Instead of getting fired, they were sent here to Nerima where they were guaranteed to never be significantly promoted ever again. Many of them came here believing that they could somehow change Nerima, and earn their next big break here. These fools usually sought to make an example of Toshio Kuno ("his Lordship" as Imia and his people sarcastically called the elder Kuno) only to be hopelessly outwitted and publically embarrassed further. Or, worse yet, the publicity-seeking idiot would take on one of the numerous dojos. That *never* ended well for the officer. The best outcome was total humiliation. The worst outcome…well let's just leave it that Imia could fill out a disability form faster than any of his contemporaries in the other Wards.

Some of the doomed officers would quit the force shortly thereafter, resigning themselves to a new career. Others might continue to try, forcing Imia to place them on Traffic Detail (without a gun) until they quit. However, there were a few prized ones who began to understand the people of Nerima and became warped like Imia, Kokawa, and the rest of the lunatics.

Imia sat down at his desk and began to look through the new officer's file. Surprisingly enough, there was no mention of showboating or any other screw-ups. That meant the officer had been banished for political reasons. Maybe, just maybe, this guy might be a keeper. Imia needed to find out what had happened at Officer Sadao Ueda's last assignment. The Sergeant knew that if he called the old precinct, he'd never get a straight answer. He needed some one-on-one time with Ueda to get the story; Imia now knew who would be joining him on the walkabout today…

* * *

As Imia walked into the squad room, he heard the normal catcalls of "About time!" and "You almost missed the doughnuts!", but the room became properly respectful as he approached the podium. "Good morning, my fellow inmates!" he greeted them. He used that one very infrequently – infrequently enough that it actually got a few chuckles. "It is my great pleasure to tell you that I just received the official call about half-an-hour ago; we have Bookkeeping this week." Groans and moans greeted that. "However, since I am a benevolent leader, I will take today's shift."

"Hah!" one of the men yelled out. "I bet Himself is on the list today!"

"Miss Tendo won't have a cookie left in her kitchen!" someone else shouted out.

"A happy coincidence," Imia agreed; a comment that was greeted with laughter. As Imia shifted into a more serious stance, his men picked up on it and became more sober. "We have some domestic disputes I want followed up on this morning," the Sergeant continued. "We also have a shoplifter targeting some of the clothing stores. Enough has been stolen that I suspect this might be more than one individual. Keep your eyes opened and whisper in the appropriate ears. I want three plain clothes officers to do a little appropriate wandering this afternoon."

"On a more serious note, we may have a dojo war going on. Ito took a look this morning – something trashed one of Yamamoto's new sites last night, destroying a lot of expensive stock. He guesses about thirty people were involved. Since Forensics came up a little short, we are guessing martial artists. Have a chat with the usual suspects and see if anything turns up. I want the dojos identified so we can have a little discussion with the Senseis." There were several nodding heads in the room.

"One last thing," Imia said. "I am pleased to announce a new officer has joined our little family." Several faces turned wary at that statement. "Officer Ueda, would you please stand up?" A tall man with black hair and a mustache stood up. He quietly nodded to the room. "Ueda," the Sergeant addressed him. "You're with me today. The Bookkeeping assignment will be a good way to introduce you to our fair city." The Sergeant noticed that many of his men seemed to lock down their responses (which he appreciated). Ueda just nodded to the Sergeant and sat down. "All right – Mori has your assignments. Please check with him as you leave."

* * *

Ueda met the Sergeant outside squad room. "I'm ready when you are, Sergeant Imia," he told his new boss.

"Good. Let me pick up the Book, and we will be off," the Sergeant replied motioning Ueda to follow him.

Ueda sighed as he walked besides the Sarge. "And what exactly is the Book? Am I about to be put through a hazing ritual?"

"Suspicious fellow, aren't you? I like that in my officers," Sarge said. "No, you are not going to get hazed – Nerima will do that all by itself." The two policemen reached the front desk. "As for the Book – this is it," Imia said as he accepted it from the officer on Desk Duty. Imia handed the Book to Ueda and waited.

"It looks like a large oversized accounting book," Ueda remarked slowly." He then read off an entry: "Jun Aoki, Okeda Dojo, four bushels of apples, two dozen grapefruit, three hours of labor to Mei's Fruit Stand. Paid in full on October 10, 2001."

The Sergeant took the Book back and led the way out of the door. "That's exactly what it is," Imia said. "It's an accounting book. Every martial artist in Nerima has a page in this book." They exited outside and Sarge led the way into downtown Nerima.

"If I believed the stories about Nerima, the martial artists ran amok here and ignored the Law," Ueda commented with a raised eyebrow. "The stories say the martial artists have no respect for us at all."

The Sergeant laughed a little at that. "Keep that opinion to yourself if you don't want to piss off the Inspector and end up on traffic duty for the next three months."

"And you're not offended by the stories?" Ueda asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No, I know the truth, as strange as it sounds," Imia said. He led the way down to an Okonomiyaki restaurant and banged on the door. A young woman opened the door dressed in a kimono. "I'm sorry sirs…" she started, then trailed off. "Oh, hello Sergeant Imia." The woman eyed the Book in his hands. "Umm… I should be up-to-date. I'm usually very careful. The last fight I had was with the Amazon Mousse, and that was a sparring match in the park. There was no damage."

"Hello Konatsu," the Sergeant replied. "No, you are up to date, lad." Ueda gave a small start at that last word. "I need to speak with your Mistress."

"Is there any way I can give her a message?" the cross-dresser pleaded. "She was working at a city picnic in Akasaka all day yesterday. I had to run the restaurant myself."

"Oh?" Imia asked opening the Book to her page. "Is this because of the incident a few weeks back?"

"Yes, Sergeant," Konatsu replied.

"Good. I promised to stop by and check that she was working on her community service. Let her sleep lad. She's had nothing added since then." He watched as Konatsu let out a sigh. "You know, lad, you can probably do better. There are many women out there that would appreciate a house-broken lad like you."

"Thank you, Sergeant, but I'm happy enough," Konatsu answered.

The Sergeant shrugged his shoulders and walked away. "That's a GUY?" Ueda asked when they were out of earshot.

The Sergeant grinned at him, "Yep, and that effeminate cross-dresser is also one of the best ninjas in Tokyo. He could kill you and me forty times over before our bodies hit the ground from the first slice. That's your first lesson: Nothing is as it seems in Nerima – not even a person's sex. His boss is a lovely woman who insists on dressing like a man. 'Why?' is a very long story; ask me about it later some time."

"What did she do to get community service in Akasaka?" Ueda quizzed.

"She wrecked several hotels in Akasaka with two other women. The only reason she's not doing a couple years in jail is because one of her cohorts was Kodachi Kuno." The last name was pronounced with a great deal of bile.

"I take it the girl has money," Ueda commented.

"Yes. What's worse is her uncle has money. He reimbursed the hotels for their damages and managed to get the three girls off with probation and sixty hours of service."

"And you don't like him?" Ueda asked, but then saw the black look on the Sergeant's face and dropped the matter immediately.

The Sarge ignored the question and let the air clear. Then he led his new officer down one of the residential streets. He stopped at one particular house and opened a small notebook. "What's this one do?" Ueda asked.

"Actually, he's up to date. He's pretty good about confining the damage from his fights to stay within a dojo. However, he may have info on the fight last night. One warning: he's a bit gruff – don't take it personally. C'mon," the Sergeant answered him.

They walked up to the house, which was the last of a set of row houses, and knocked on the door, but there was no answer. "Let's go around the back," Imia said leading Ueda down a little side path. When they reach there, the second thing Ueda noticed was a large outdoor kiln dominating one end of the small yard. The *first* thing he noticed was a large man dominating the entire yard. The huge man had a large moon-face with big eyes and a slack jaw. "Hello, Doe," the Sarge yelled out in greeting. "I thought you'd be back in town. Finished the rounds did you?" The large man just nodded his head. "Mind if we have a word?"

Doe just shrugged his shoulders. Then the giant spied the large Book and gave an evil grin. "I'm not in the Book," he rumbled. "I'm not worried."

"Yes, you are – your page is just blank," Imia retorted. "Everyone is in the Book."

"Not the Doc," the giant challenged.

"Yes, he is and his page is not blank. Even he loses it now and then," Imia said smugly.

"Bull! Ono is the most level headed man I know," Doe stated.

The Sergeant sobered up a little. "Not when it comes to a man beating his wife in public…" he said with a sigh.

The giant seemed to consider that for a moment and grudgingly nodded agreement. Then he turned to a workbench behind him and looked to be carving something. Imia motioned for Ueda to follow him and went to stand off to the side of the workbench. Ueda stood a little behind the Sergeant. Imia noticed that Doe was carving a sign for the Tendo Dojo. "You were at the Tendo Dojo last week?"

"The week before," rumbled Doe. "I fought the Little Missy again for a bit, and then Himself stepped in when I got a hit on her. Between the two of them, they got to keep their sign."

"Poor Doe. Beaten by two teenagers again," Imia said with a smirk.

Doe turned to the Sergeant and tapped him on the forehead lightly. "You think you're so tough, *you* fight the two of them. By themselves, they are excellent fighters – I have trouble with either one of them. Together, they can take on any Destroyer in the world, especially since they've stopped bickering during fights. Now they just work together."

"They've stopped bickering?" The Sergeant was so surprised, he dropped his superior attitude.

Doe gave a short laugh. "While they are fighting someone else," he emphasized. "After the fight, Miss Tendo invited me for dinner, so I stayed. During dinner, the two were snipping and sniping at each other the whole time. It was like watching two wolf pups playing with each other – and about as serious anymore. There will be a wedding there within three years I'll bet."

"They are not brother and sister, then?" Ueda asked.

Doe looked at Imia with question marks in his eyes, so Imia answered him, "Doe, this is Officer Ueda. He just joined us today." Doe nodded at the man. Imia then answered Ueda's question: "The two teenagers in question were betrothed by their families. They hated each other on sight when they first met, but that's cooled considerably over the years. Now, they have gotten the families to back off and are actually dating willingly. When you meet them, you'll see why. If ever there was a case for soul mates, it's these two – whether they like it or not."

"Hmph," Doe agreed. "If their parents had left them alone from the beginning, they would have been married a year ago."

"So if they kept their sign, why are you making them a new one?" Imia asked.

Doe grinned at him. "Because Himself has one weakness – his huge ego. I pointed out how a lot of the dojos now had professional signs made. I said it was a shame that the Tendo Dojo didn't have one. He should look at the competition and see what folks were doing. After all, if he was going to have students in the near future, he'd have to stand out in every way."

Doe continued: "He thought about it for a bit and talked to the Little Missy later, and then the two of them came to me after dinner to learn more. I told him there was this one company that catered especially to dojos. During the conversation, the Little Missy put two and two together and made the jump to twenty-two. When she told Himself, the boy laughed for about half-an-hour. That's when we got down to some serious bargaining. Since they had no money to speak of, we worked out a barter arrangement. He came by after school twice this past week and worked on my roof. He did a good job too – it no longer leaks. Then the two of them spent yesterday gathering seven large barrels of clay and sealing them properly – I have enough material for my summer work now. He's promised to repair some of the walls inside of the house over the next two weeks as well. Once he does that, I'll give him the sign."

The Sergeant made a little more small talk with the giant and then got to the point. "Listen, Doe. Do you know anything about what happened at Yamamoto's work site last night? Looks like a fairly big rumble went down there?"

The Dojo Destroyer looked thoughtful for a second (at least as thoughtful as his moon-face ever looked anyway), then shook his head. "No – not that I talk to many of the dojos. You may want to try the Ghoul though. She is waiting for her heir to give up and go home, so she's been meddling to keep busy."

Imia made a face. "I'd rather talk to a real ghoul," he said.

"You and most of Nerima these days, but that's neither here nor there for me. I like Miss Tendo well enough, but I don't think the Ghoul had anything to do with her troubles," Doe answered him. With that, he turned his attention to the large kiln and began removing several beautiful clay pots, dismissing the two officers completely. Imia motioned to Ueda and they left without another word to the giant.

"Is he trustworthy?" Ueda asked as they continued their walk.

Imia shrugged his shoulders. "He doesn't care enough about the dojos in the city to lie. For that matter, he doesn't care enough about anything to bother lying. He lives for his handicrafts which is how he makes ends meet, a good meal, and the chance to trounce entire dojos – not necessarily in that order."

"Are all the martial artists like him?" Ueda asked. "If so, I'm starting to believe some of the rumors I've heard."

Imia laughed. "While the rumors you heard are probably true, no, he's not typical. There are over a fifty dojos across Nerima and yet there is no 'typical' Nerima martial artist. They do not share any common characteristics other than they all love a good fight – from the wildest to the most gentle, the largest to the smallest."

"Sounds a bit like the American Wild West. How do you keep control over them?"

"I won't tell you yet. Let's go meet a few more and see if you can figure it out," Imia challenged him.

* * *

A/N: Next - The Amazons and the Tendos


	2. The Amazons and the Tendos

Chapter 2: The Amazons and the Tendos

The Sergeant took his new man to three dojos. None of them were open yet since it was so early on Sunday, but the Sensei was always pleasant to the officers and reviewed the status of his students as was listed in the Book. The Sensei usually promised to give a nudge to any student who owed someone time or money. In one case, the Sensei promised to "motivate the student strongly" to pay back what he owed. In a few cases, the Sensei said the debt had been paid and urged the Sergeant to talk to the debtor for confirmation. Imia promised he would.

After the third dojo, Imia sighed. "No one had news of the fight last night. I guess we better go talk to the Ghoul. Her restaurant is five blocks that away." Ueda just nodded, but asked no questions. Soon the officers found themselves outside of a Chinese restaurant named the Cat Café. Imia banged on the door.

A young Chinese man opened the door and peered at them through thick coke-bottle glasses. "Sergeant Imia? What brings you around so early on Sunday?" the teenager asked.

"Hello Mousse. This does," he said holding up the Book.

Mousse seemed to study the Book for a moment before realizing what it was. "Oh. Well please come in, but none of us have broken anything lately. My last fight was with Saotome. The only thing that got damaged was my ego."

"When was that?" the Sergeant asked.

"Let's see. I sparred with Konatsu on Tuesday, so I fought Ranma on Wednesday. He said the ambush was much better than usual, but I need to work more on my stealth."

"Are you sure it wasn't yesterday? There's a wall missing at the library," Imia pressed.

"No, I ambushed Ranma over on Central Street. That's a good ten blocks away. And it was definitely on Wednesday," Mousse insisted. "Besides, if you want to know if Ranma did it, just ask him. He usually just owns up to things anyway. That and he's a lousy liar, so he really doesn't bother trying to lie. He's also trying to work on this responsibility thing, so if he did do it, he would have reported the damage already."

"Responsibility thing?" the Sergeant asked amused.

"He's words, not mine," Mousse answered. "He wants to show Akane that he's dependable."

"Is this the couple the big guy mentioned? Himself and the Little Missy?" Ueda asked.

Something cackled off to their left. Ueda turned to see the oldest and ugliest woman he had ever seen. He immediately forced his mouth shut before he could ask a stupid question. Obviously, this was the Ghoul Imia referred to. Imia turned and bowed to the old woman. "Good morning, Ms. Cologne," Imia greeted her.

"I see you have been talking to the Dojo Destroyer. While a few people around town refer to Ranma as 'Himself' – which only amuses the lad – only the Dojo Destroyer refers to Akane as 'the Little Missy'," Cologne commented.

"He's one of the few who can and live," Mousse added with a touch of dry humor in his voice.

Cologne cackled again and then asked, "So what does Nerima's Finest want at the Cat Café?"

"Two orders of Breakfast Noodles to go, and any information on the fight last night that trashed one of Yamamoto's work sites," Sarge answered.

"The orders you can have. As far as the info – what's in it for me?" she asked brazenly.

"You'd be doing you civic duty to the people of Nerima," the Sergeant said.

"The people of Nerima have turned their back on me already," she answered in a sly tone. (1)

"That's because you turned your back on them first – if you want to get back into their good graces, you're going to have to make the first gesture," Imia shot back.

"I'm leaving here as soon as I can convince my Granddaughter there's nothing here for her." Cologne sighed then. "Still, it's easy to gather enemies. Friends are a lot harder. You will spread the info around? Especially where you got it?" she asked. At the Sergeant's nod, she continued: "Fine. The fight was between the Takaki and Tanguchi dojos. If you send some men around to the members, I'm sure you'll still find the remains of the paneling, wooden beams, and that red cement Yamamoto so fond of in their clothes. I'm not sure why they acted like such jerks (I'm being polite here), but you do need to nip the bud off before this nonsense blooms any further. By the way, me and mine had nothing to do with the attack on Kasumi Tendo. An enemy of mine did. I'm trying to make sure that no one in Nerima suffers because of me again." (2)

"You may want to tell Kasumi and Tofu that, you know," the Sergeant threw out.

The old woman sighed again at that. "Maybe," she said. Then she straightened up and looked at her employee. "All right, Part-Timer. Go get these men their food," she ordered.

Mousse bowed and said: "Yes, Elder."

"Anything else?" Cologne asked.

"No. Shampoo finished her community service in Akasaka two days ago. Mousse is up to date. You haven't done anything in months. The matter of the Tendo Dojo and the Saotome house is still winding its way through the courts." The Elder just shrugged her shoulders at that.

* * *

A short time later the officers were walking through the town again, eating noodles out of some take out containers. "This isn't bad," Ueda commented.

"Nope," Imia responded. "Consider it your 'Welcome to Nerima' meal." The Sergeant paused thoughtfully then. "I think it's time you met Himself and his family. We need to find out about the library wall anyway."

"Why do you call him that? He's just a kid, isn't he?" Ueda asked.

"Yes and no. He's eighteen. In some ways, he's very immature. In others, he's way too old. The title is a description, not a sign of respect – and he knows it. When you meet with him, keep in mind that he's actually one of the top thirty martial artists in the entire country, and one of the top twenty martial artists in the city – he may be in the top ten. Let's go to the Tendo Dojo," Imia said. With that, he led the way through the maze of streets.

In short order, the two ended up before the Tendo dojo gates. They walked in and approached the house. The Sergeant stopped before the door and spoke to his subordinate. "Now, for the most part, the Tendos and Saotomes are polite people, but you need to expect a little weirdness. The most important thing is to keep a straight face at all times."

Ueda's eyebrows rose. "Oh? What should I expect?"

Suddenly, the front door swung inwards and a young woman with short brown hair and sharp eyes wearing shorts and a stylish T-shirt popped out. She snatched the Book from Imia's hands. "Things like this," she said. Then, she popped back in and slammed the door. The two men heard the door lock turn.

"NABIKI!" Imia shouted, his face turning red. He banged on the door for a full half a minute.

Ueda thought to himself: "So much for keeping a straight face."

Imia regained his composure and turned to the Ueda. "C'mon, let's get around to the backyard," he said. "The door's usually unlocked during daylight hours. If nothing else, we can find some allies." He walked off quickly.

The two men walked around the house and stopped. In the backyard, they found the girl sitting down at a large round patio table near the back fence with three other people in a half circle facing the house. They were obviously eating a late breakfast. The girl Nabiki sat on one end of the half-circle looking through the Book. "So tell me Brother-In-Law," she said to a tall man with brown hair tied back in a ponytail. "What did you do that required you to replace the town flag pole ten years ago?"

"Oh my," said the eldest of the three pretty women with a sparkle in her eye. The woman looked to be in her early twenties and was dressed in a modest skirt and blouse. When Ueda saw her, he immediately classified her as a Madonna/Matriarch type despite her young age. This was a woman a man immediately thought of bringing home to mother. "I think my dear Fiancé owes me a story," she teased.

The man shrugged his shoulders. "There's not much to tell," he said. "I was a bit of a hothead then."

Nabiki then addressed the youngest of the three. "My, my, Akane. Your Fiancé's entries go on for several pages." She tisked-tisked for a moment. "You know, Akane. He must love you. Some of these items I know you had a hand in – or rather a foot. And it usually connected to him." Meanwhile, Imia started walking to the table with Ueda behind him.

Akane adopted an innocent pose, "Why Nabiki, how could you accuse your sister of such a thing?" Ueda looked at the pretty girl with the blue-black hair dressed in a set of shorts and a frilly short-sleeved yellow blouse. This girl would cause her school mates to immediately think of a soda shop and sharing a drink with two straws.

"Won't work, sis," Nabiki said with a smirk flipping a few pages. "Your own entries go on for two pages." She turned another page. "Oh my, dear sister," she said to the eldest. "You have a page in here – and it looks brand new."

"And that's the way it will *stay*, dear sister," the eldest said firmly.

Suddenly, the sharp-eyed girl sat up. "Hey!" she exclaimed. Before she could say another word, Imia snatched the Book back.

Imia tapped her on the head with the book. "Five months!" he scolded her. "You only have five months until you turn twenty, young lady, and there will be much celebrating at the precinct."

Nabiki ignored the threat. Instead she said loudly with surprise: "I have a page in there! What the hell?"

"Nabiki, please watch your language," scolded the eldest calmly.

"Of course, you have a page in here," Imia said, please that the young woman was a little rattled. "You've been hanging around martial artist since you were in the womb. The ability is in your genes, and we know that any hi-jinks that come out of this dojo have been exacerbated because of you. You are not fooling any of us."

"All right," the man said to the girl and Sergeant. He said it quietly, but the words seemed to carry a lot of weight. "It's too early in the day for this; you two can play later."

Nabiki stuck her tongue out at the Sergeant, who gave a short laugh in response. The sharp-eyed girl looked at Ueda and said: "Who's the new officer, Imia?"

"Officer Ueda," the Sergeant started. "These three ladies are Kasumi Tendo, Akane Tendo, and Nabiki Tendo," he said indicating each young woman in turn. "Their Father works for the town in the Department of Public Works and is also a newly elected Council member. The gentleman is Doctor Tofu Ono. He is Miss Kasumi's fiancé and one of the more noted doctors in town – if he can't fix what's wrong with you, it's because you are already dead."

"The Sergeant is too kind with his praise," Tofu murmured.

"Folks," the Sergeant continued. "This is Officer Ueda. He just transferred to Nerima from Minato."

"Welcome to Nerima, Officer Ueda," Kasumi said warmly. "Can I interest either of you in some breakfast?"

Ueda spoke up: "Thank you kindly ma'am, but…"

"Of course, we accept," the Sergeant said.

"Good," Kasumi said as the officers sat down. "Let me go get a fresh pot of coffee." She was up and gone before Tofu could offer to go instead.

Nabiki laughed as the Doc shrugged. Then she leaned over conspiratorially to Officer Ueda and said: "One rule all of Nerima's Finest know – never refuse Kasumi Tendo's cooking." Sergeant Imia leaned over and tapped Nabiki on the head with the Book again. Nabiki just stuck her tongue out at the man again and reached over to give his hand a familiar squeeze.

Akane spoke up. "So, what brings you to Nerima, Officer Ueda?" she asked pleasantly.

Ueda smiled at the charming young lady. He had a tough time believing this girl stood toe-to-toe with the Dojo Destroyer. "I felt very confined by the politics associated with my last position. I needed a change," he answered diplomatically.

"I'm afraid you cannot escape politics in Nerima either," Nabiki told him. "But maybe you'll feel more comfortable in Nerima." The Sergeant gave her a warning glance, but she pressed on. "What most of the politicians don't seem to understand is that the game is fixed." Doctor Tofu looked at her curiously. Nabiki went on: "Toshio Kuno has set the rules so that he has a free hand. He uses his ninjas, who supposedly help patrol the town free of charge, as an excuse to limit the number of police in Nerima. He funds the Mayor's and the Councilors' pet projects to keep them happy and sufficiently docile. He also pumps enough money into the Treasury to keep the Ward's taxes low and the people satisfied. The only real problem is that the ninjas are not enough to control the crime in the town or the martial artists."

"But any martial artists I have met this morning seem to be very respectful to the Sergeant. Are they really a problem?" Ueda asked.

Nabiki glanced at the Sergeant, who shrugged his shoulders. "You started it, young lady. You finish it."

"The martial artists of Nerima are like any other group of people – some good, some bad. One thing that they all like to do is eat – and some of them eat quite a bit," Nabiki said rolling her eyes. Akane gave a snort of laughter. "Since most of them are not farmers, they have to get the food from their neighbors – which is tough to do if that particular fighter has ticked off his neighbors. Many of the martial artists subscribe to Bushido to some extent. This means that they believe that they have a duty to protect society and they have some measure of obedience to the Emperor and his agents – i.e. the police force and other civil servants. Ranma would rather cut off his hand than strike a police officer."

She went on: "Others are like the Amazons. While they feel they are superior to the police, they give a certain grudging respect to the men and women who put their lives on the line to protect their neighbors regardless of their training, so they will not cross the police force – or support anyone else who does."

"The group that doesn't respect the police is kept in line by the first thing I mentioned – it's tough to get food out of people who don't like you. Also, no matter what they would like to believe, none of the fighters are invincible. Number 1 can be taken out by Numbers 2 and 3 joining forces – or by however many martial artists it takes."

"Are you saying the martial artists are self-policing?" Ueda asked.

Nabiki nodded. "To some degree, yes. Since the local police are short staffed and not allowed to correct it, the martial artist pick up bonus points by helping guard their neighbors and working with the police as requested – this includes capturing other martial artist that the *police* feel are sitting on the wrong side of the law. Also, since the martial artists are not beholden to Toshio Kuno, this helps limit Kuno's power which the police love and gets the martial artists some forgiveness points."

"This is true," Imia agreed.

"But we also come back to having to work with your neighbors – if your neighbors are subject to the powers-that-be, so you must be too. The civilians demand that the martial artists have some visible accountability despite their wild ways and their usefulness. Also, the police would rather the limited court system not be tied up with small claims. Hence, the Book was created." Nabiki pointed at the Book as she continued: "If a civilian has a grievance with a martial artist, this allows folks to get restitution without filing formal charges in the case of simple property damage – which is usually the situation. The police maintain the Book and are the first line arbiters. If either the civilian or the martial artist feel the ruling is unfair, then they can go to the court system, but both sides will be reluctant to do this. The martial artist may be incarcerated, and the civilian might be waiting a long time for restitution."

At this point, Kasumi made her reappearance with food and coffee. Once she had served everyone, and sat down, Ueda spoke up: "Sounds like the martial artists are given unwarranted privileges. Many police officers have martial arts training. What's so special about the Nerima martial artists?"

The other five people at the table looked at each other. Then Kasumi cleared her throat. "Akane? I think Ranma has slept in long enough. Would you please go wake him?"

* * *

Footnote:

(1) See Chapter 2 of "Brothers" if your curious why the town turned it's back on the Amazons.

(2) The battle between Kasumi and Henna happened in Chapters 1 and 2 of "Kasumi's Fate".

* * *

A/N: Do I really have to tell you the name of the final chapter?


	3. Himself

Chapter 3: Himself

Akane's eyes widened, and then narrowed again as she gave an evil smirk. "Why yes, big sister! I'd love to!" she exclaimed. With that, she got up from the table and sashayed (there was no other word for the steps she was using) into the house.

"I don't und…" started Ueda, but Imia shushed him.

"Don't talk, just look, listen, and learn," the Sergeant told his new man.

From inside the house, music began blaring at force ten and a Canadian singer yelled out "Let go girls!" as the song "Man, I Feel Like a Woman!" started up (1). After about 30 seconds of this, there was a crunching sound and the music died. A yell of "DIE TOMBOY!" shook the neighborhood followed by a girl's loud laughter.

"Isn't it usually 'DIE RANMA!'?" Imia asked.

"Ranma was once trying to use psychology on Akane by mocking how she attacked him. It actually worked to some degree in that she finally realized how out-of-control her temper and her attacks were. Now he uses the battle cry to make her laugh I think," Tofu told him.

There were crashing sounds coming from the house and more laughter. Once or twice, the house actually shook. Folks outside heard Akane remark: "What's the matter, Ranma? You're getting like Nabiki – you're no good without that first cup of coffee!"

"I think I've just been insulted," remarked Nabiki.

There was a growling sound and more crashing then. At one particular loud crash, Kasumi raised her voice firmly: "Children! Stay out of my room!"

"Children?" Nabiki questioned. "They are only three years younger than you."

"Not when they play like that, they're not," Kasumi said steadily.

"You should learn to shut your door," Nabiki said.

"They broke the last door. I leave the new door and Father's door open now to prevent that. They usually don't go too far into the rooms," Kasumi replied.

There was a solid "thud" from the house. "And you laughed when I had a steel door and frame installed on my room," Nabiki noted.

"That was because you had it installed before they started this nonsense," Kasumi returned.

"Leave them alone," Tofu remarked. "Every couple has their own rituals, and they always clean up the mess. One day soon, they will probably have a very different set of rituals."

"But probably no less noisy," Nabiki commented, causing Kasumi to blush brightly for some reason. Ueda was confused by the mild bantering despite the war-zone sounds coming from the house.

Soon, a large "whump" sounded (with another house-shake), causing Tofu to observe: "They're downstairs now." There was the sound of furniture being upturned and Akane re-appeared in the yard again. She was fighting a muscular young man sporting a long pig-tail.

Ueda's mouth drop opened. Both were throwing punches, kicks, and blocks at what could only be described as light-speed. They didn't move about the yard so much as teleport about it. One of the young woman's kicks connected with an ornamental rock as the lad dodged and the rock split in half. The young man shot his fist into a stone statue and shattered it as the young lady leaped over him without a thought.

"Nabiki," Kasumi scolded. "I wish you would stop collecting those hideous statues."

"She not collecting them," Tofu told his fiancée. "She's offering a unique disposal method for people who want family gifts destroyed. Any time people get something from a relative that they don't want, but cannot return or re-gift, Nabiki charges them 500 yen to get rid of it permanently."

Imia raised an eyebrow at Nabiki.

"Hey, it's a legitimate business model," Nabiki defended. "Now they can honestly say it was destroyed in a fight between Nerima martial artists."

Ueda was shocked by the ferociousness of the attacks. Several training posts were splintered as the two passed near them. Akane continued to taunt Ranma (who else could this be?) while Ranma did nothing but growl at her. Each of them leapt into the air, seeming to float and trade more strikes.

When they landed, somehow each of the two was armed with a bow staff. They began swinging, thrusting, and blocking with all their might. Each collision of the staffs sounded like a gunshot and the frequency was such that Ueda swore there was an automatic weapon involved. Finally, Akane gave a blood-thirsty yell and swung her staff with enough force that it cracked Ranma's staff. Ueda swore he saw a flash when Ranma's staff gave way. Somehow, the young man managed to use the two broken pieces as a guide to flip himself over the incoming staff and out of its path. Once he was on the ground again and slightly behind Akane, he swept her feet out from under her with his leg. She responded by performing her own flip which carried her out of Ranma's immediate striking range, but he managed to use his two staff pieces to snatch her staff away from her. She immediately attacked again and prevented him from recovering her staff completely. She also managed to knock the staff pieces out of his hands, removing the weapons from the fight. The whole staff flew over the heads of everyone at the breakfast table, but Tofu's hand shot up and snatched it out of the air.

"This one's still good," the doctor said after examining it for a moment. "She's getting better."

"Good," Nabiki said. "That one is an ironwood staff. Ranma's staff was just oak. Those two are hell on equipment."

Ueda couldn't process their cavalier attitude to the blood-thirsty fight. His boss looked on with polite interest, as if watching a soccer game. Kasumi just sighed at the two "children." The two fighters were at it again with feet and fists, never letting up. As he watched, something began to sink into Ueda awareness. Both Akane and Ranma were grinning. Despite the apparent speed and viciousness of the attacks and the blocks, this *was* a game! They were only sparring! Good lord – what would the two be like if they really went all out?

Finally, Akane made a sweeping attack that caused Ranma to somersault backwards. The young woman then tore off in the direction of the table leaving the young man confused for a critical second at the sudden retreat. Imia stood up just as Ranma ran after Akane, and Akane hid behind Imia. Ranma came to a screeching halt just in front of a very smug Sergeant. The shocked expression on Ranma's face could only be called priceless.

"Why, Sergeant Imia, what a surprise!" the young man managed to squeak out. Behind the Sergeant was the sound of giggling. Ranma wanted to glare at his fiancée, but her laughter seemed to be robbing his look of any effectiveness.

"Ah, Mister Saotome. I've been looking for you. It seems my precinct has been entrusted with the Book this week," Imia told the young man smugly.

Genuine confusion appeared on the young man's face. Kasumi's voice cut in though. "Both of you sit and eat while you talk," she told them. Both men followed the instructions without even thinking about it, but Akane stole a hug and a kiss (which Ranma stole back) before Ranma sat down.

The confusion never completely disappeared from Ranma's face though as he ate. He seemed to be reviewing something in his mind. Finally, after he ate enough food to feed a small army, he said to Imia: "I'm sorry Sergeant, but I can't think of anything this week. I am getting better about the incidental damage. Can you give me a few hints?"

"There's a cement half-wall missing outside the library. Do you know anything about it?" Imia asked.

Ranma seemed lost in thought for a second, and then his eyes widened. He held that expression for a few more seconds then said, "I might. Please hold on a minute." With that, he got up and went towards the dojo next to the house.

Ueda noticed that the dojo had seen better days. It was a wonder the building was still standing. To put if frankly, it looked like it had been fire-bombed. "What happened to the dojo?" he asked.

Kasumi answered him: "We don't like to talk about that. Let's just say that the case is winding through the courts. Most of what you see is superficial damage. We put just enough effort into it to make it structurally sound, but we are still waiting on a settlement from the Kuno family, which should happen soon."

Tofu added: "If we fix it up properly, Toshio Kuno will try and sweep it under the rug. We want him to be reminded he's not off the hook yet."

"Good for you!" Imia approved.

Suddenly, they heard Ranma shout out from the dojo. "Up pig-brain!"

"Red-head! What is your problem?" another male voice shouted back at him.

"You were suppose to go to the police station and report the wall! Imia's here – his group has the Book this week!" Ranma told the other voice.

"Ah crap. I'm sorry, Ranma. I got lost yesterday and ended up at Ukyo's. She wasn't there, so I ended up helping Konatsu run the place. I figured Akari would help me get down to the precinct today after her lesson with Kasumi."

They heard silence for a second – about the time it would take someone to sigh, and then Ranma spoke up again. "C'mon, let's go talk to Imia. Then you can get some breakfast and I'll help you deal with the wall afterwards."

"You will? That would be great!" the other voice responded. Two young men exited the dojo. The other young man was also muscular and slightly wider than Ranma. Somehow, he looked even more solid (which was a good trick). The newcomer wore a bandana.

"Yeah. Besides, if I don't help you, you'll only get lost again," Ranma told him. The other fellow just looked a little sheepish at the comment. The two men walked up to Imia.

"Ah, Mr. Hibiki. I might have known. Ueda, this is Ryoga Hibiki. If you find a boulder missing or a stone wall shattered, he's your first suspect," Imia said by way of introduction. Ryoga winced at that. "However, he's usually only in Nerima on weekends anymore. Otherwise, he's with his fiancée at her farm about an hour north of here. Ryoga, this is Officer Ueda. He just transferred to Nerima today." Ryoga nodded to the new man. Imia opened the book and turned to Hibiki's page. After making a few notes, he nodded with some satisfaction. "Stop by the precinct when you have fixed the wall."

"Yes, Sergeant," Ryoga answered.

"I'll make sure he gets there," Ranma added. "It shouldn't take us too long."

Ueda looked at the assembled group and seem to be having a tough time processing things. "I guess I still don't understand. I'll admit the sparring I saw seemed supernatural, but it was just sparring. You hit someone over the head with a baton and they will get knocked out."

Akane looked at the officer. "I think one more demo is in order," she said. Then her tones became like honey: "Good morning, P-Chan!" With that Akane pulled out a huge mallet from under the table. Ryoga's face assumed a resigned expression as the mallet drove him into the ground, feet first.

"Still angry?" Imia asked her with surprise. Ueda was in shock at witnessing a murder right before his eyes.

"Wouldn't you be?" Akane asked as she removed the mallet from Hibiki and tossed it under the table again.

"I think after a hundred or so whacks with the hammer, it might be time to let bygones be bygones," the Sergeant told her.

"Maybe. Admittedly I'm not feeling the same level of betrayal anymore." She reached into the hole. Ryoga head was just visible. "Ranma, could you please give me a hand? Akari will be mad if he doesn't come out in one piece." Ranma nodded and went to the other side of the hole.

"She just killed him…" Ueda said as he started to draw his gun.

"Officer Ueda! Stand down! That's an order!" barked Imia. Ueda looked at his leader like the man had gone mad. "Trust me, Hibiki's not hurt." Ueda let go of his gun.

There was a pop from the ground as Ryoga came free. "That's not quite true, Sergeant," Ryoga said. "But I am more or less undamaged, Officer Ueda." Ueda began to pale.

Ranma sat down again. "The fact of the matter, Officer Ueda, is that many of the martial artists in Nerima can take an extreme amount of damage before they show any signs of slowing down. Some of it is physical conditioning, but some of it is mental conditioning as well. We teach ourselves to ignore pain as much as possible in the heat of the moment. Ryoga has taken stronger strikes than Akane's mallet – not that she's weak by any means." He said that last part fairly quickly before Akane reached for the mallet again.

"But not much stronger – it does hurt," Ryoga said stretching his neck. "And I really am sorry, Akane. But I'm not that person anymore either, please forgive me?" he pleaded.

Akane sighed. "Oh, all right. I'll stop malleting you. But you better be good to Akari and you better be on your best behavior for a while," she answered. The Lost Boy just nodded.

Ueda had to sit down. Akane and Ryoga joined him and Ranma pushed some of the food platters towards Ryoga. "How many more are like him?" Ueda asked.

"I'm afraid there are many of us, myself included" Kasumi admitted. "I have accidentally hit myself with a taser at the police station."

"She gave me a heart attack with the worry too," Imia said. "She was in to update the Book for her Father, and some idiot left out a hand taser. She was sixteen at the time and a little too curious for her own good."

Kasumi blushed. "It looked like an electric razor as it lay on the front desk," she said. Tofu rolled his eyes and then shook his head.

"It gave her a sting when she touched her leg with it, but not much more, despite the full charge," Imia added. "A civilian would have been thrown to the ground." He looked at Kasumi. "I should have put you in the Book then." Kasumi blushed a little more. "By the way, where are your father and the Saotomes?

Kasumi answered him: "Auntie is downtown today visiting a friend and Father and Uncle Genma are on a training trip somewhere. We don't expect the two of them back until Wednesday."

Akane brought the conversation back to the original point. "I'm afraid your baton won't do much against many martial artists even if you can get in a strike, Officer Ueda. Should a martial artist actually go rogue and there's no assistance about, you may find yourself having to use deadly force much faster than you intended."

"Hopefully that works," Imia said. The rest of the table went very quiet.

Ueda looked at the table in disbelief. "You lot can catch bullets too?" he exclaimed.

"We don't know, Officer," Tofu told him quietly. "It's not something you want to try unless you have no other options. A bullet is not an item you train with."

"Supposedly, it's been done, but I've never talked to anyone who has," Ranma added. "You'd have to be really prepared, and you'd have little time to get that prepared. I've caught thrown daggers and hand-blocked swords. Akane has intercepted arrows. Ryoga has been struck with flying debris from what are basically bomb blasts and come through with little damage, but a bullet is a whole other matter. There's so much that can go wrong, and there's no time for adjustments. Dodging for cover is a lot better option."

"More importantly, you can shoot to kill a martial artist, but he may not notice until after he's already done you in," Nabiki told Ueda. "Then we have to bury both of you."

"In any case Ueda, if you have to deal with a martial artist, the best thing to do is have a martial artist or two behind you," Imia told him. "You don't really want to shoot a man because he's had too much to drink now? After all, a martial artist is still a person with family, friends, and neighbors. These are human beings who also need the Law's help. Our primary job is to protect society – all of it. We are also suppose to help all segments of society to work together smoothly. We keep the Book because it's an extra level of responsibility the citizens like to see from the martial artists – it evens things out between neighbors."

Ueda looked troubled. "It's a different way of looking at the job, I suppose," he told them. "I'll have to think about it."

"There's time, Ueda. In the meantime, pass me more sausages there," Imia asked.

* * *

A little later, Imia and Ueda were walking back toward town center, having eaten a bit more than was good for either of them. "What's the deal between you and Nabiki Tendo?" Ueda asked. "You're obviously old friends."

The Sergeant laughed. "When Nabiki was four years old, she became separated from her mother. I was a 'beat' officer at the time. I was the one who found her and took care of her. I got her to trust me so she'd tell me who she was and who her parents were. Then I took her home and she has never forgotten that. As a result she has a soft spot for all the police despite being a very wild child. She will tease me and pull stunts like stealing the Book, but she's fairly respectful to all the other officers. She's a very clever child though. Sometimes, I just count my blessing that's she has never gone overboard with any of her stunts against me. On the other hand, I can always count on a pleasant hug when she is done and she makes sure her stunts are harmless. Fortunately, she is calming down as she gets older. She's actually baby-sat for my kids and my wife thinks she's great despite knowing the girl's wild history."

The two men stopped on a bridge looking out over a canal. "So, what did you think of Himself and his family?" Imia asked.

"I didn't think the lad was all that bad, honestly," Ueda admitted. "Certainly the rest were fairly normal acting."

"He's not that bad," Imia confirmed. "He does think the world of himself, but despite that, he is always polite to people first and he'll stay polite if they do. The children of Nerima adore him since he's always willing to play with them or referee a game for them. And if you are in any type of trouble, he's the first one to offer a hand. It's one of the reasons he's so well known throughout the town. Also, whether he knows it or not, Ranma is a controlling factor on the other martial artists. All of them respect him, even if they don't like him. He's better than most on raw skill alone, and even the few that can beat him are wary of him. He's an absolute master of battlefield strategy, something we have made use of on occasion. If he decides you have to be taken down, he will pull out all the stops and suspend all the rules."

Then Imia's eyes darkened. "There's more to his story than being a martial artist. Things he didn't ask for yet has to put up with. The martial artists are not the only strange thing in Nerima. If some chaos starts up in this town, it seeks him out and drags him in, even if he wants nothing to do with it. The thing is, if he wasn't here, the trouble would seek out others who wouldn't fare as well. Sometimes I think he's in this city just to take the pressure off of others because he can handle it – the reported crime rate has actually dropped since his arrival because he either deals with it first, or even preempts it. Still, it's not exactly fair…"

Imia continued in a severe tone: "His family life is a bit of a mess, at least his biological family. His mother and father demand impossible things from him. She's so obsessed with family honor; I doubt she has ever really taken a good look at her son. Anyone else would be ecstatic to have him as a son, warts and all, but she's determined to cut off the warts." There was something in Imia's wording that sent a shiver down Ueda's back. Imia continued: "His father's an absolute bastard and I strongly suspect he use to physically abuse the boy – I wish I knew Ranma twelve years ago so I could have put a stop to it."

Imia sighed but then lightened up. "At least he has the Doc and the Tendos. Kasumi and Tofu would be elected as the First Couple of Nerima if there was such a title. He's one of the most trusted men in all Nerima and she's so empathetic to folks around her, she always knows what to say to make them feel good. Ono's like an uncle to Ranma and Kasumi is the real mother figure in his life, despite her young age. Nabiki has become like a sister to him – an annoying older sister, but she does care for him, and he for her.

"Then there's Akane; Ranma's fiancée is cut from the same cloth he is, but she's not nearly so cocky and a bit more outgoing. Again, if you need help, just talk to her and she will do what she can (including dragging Mr. Macho in). She's very quick to point out Ranma's flaws (and he of hers), but when it comes down to it, she's his biggest supporter and he'll do anything for her. As far as their relationship goes, what was an arranged engagement is fast becoming a true engagement; they love each other very much. And there will probably be a lot of celebrating around the town when the true engagement is finally announced. Both of them can be quite charming in their own way and are fairly well liked."

"Ryoga has always been fairly polite, but he was a bit of an idiot, and Akane did have a right to be furious at him. But, as he said, he has changed a lot. He and Ranma use to be bitter rivals, but that got better. It recently got even better when they found out they were actually foster brothers – something the foster father only made known within the last few months (2). They are still rivals, but – well you saw how they acted with one another."

Ueda nodded. "All-in-all, I'd hardly declare any of them menaces to society," he said.

Imia pounced on that point: "And that's what it comes down to for most of the martial artists in Nerima. For some reason, Nerima seems to breed these extraordinary folks who are ordinary 95% of the time. They are our beloved friends and neighbors. It's only that 5% when things get strange that there's an issue, and it's not always the Nerima martial artist's fault. Usually, things just need to be put back in order, and we are back in the 95% time again. The Book just helps us get there that much quicker with no hard feelings."

"You are right, Sergeant. But, it just feels like we cut a Peace Treaty with the martial artists," Ueda told him.

"Naw," Imia told him. "You're thinking too hard about it. All we did was just expedited some of the rules to speed up the court cases and acknowledge that sometimes it's better to call on the public to help us rather than to be the sole maintainers of the peace. Try thinking about it that way instead," Imia suggested.

"All right, Sarge. I'll try," Ueda promised him.

The Sergeant left things alone then. He hadn't found out what Ueda had done to get him banished, but this was good enough. He had a good feeling that Ueda would fit in eventually, but would need a little bit more guidance. There was also that matter of introducing Ueda to some of the more mystical aspects of Nerima (and of Ranma and the other shape-shifters for that matter), but getting Ueda on the side of the people – all the people – was much more important (and it hadn't needed much of an effort either). He motioned to Ueda to resume their walk and they did. They visited several more martial artists and reviewed the Book as appropriate. Again, Ueda was always struck by the amount of respect the individuals paid the officers.

* * *

After several hours, the shift began to wind down, so the two men headed back to the precinct. They were still ten blocks away when an alarm bell began to go off to their immediate right. Three armed men burst out of the bank across the street and immediately spotted the two policemen. Even as Ueda drew his gun, he realized that there were several civilians trapped behind him in the line of fire. "Get down!" he yelled to them as he used a car in front of him as a shield to take partial cover. The gunmen opened fire and Ueda had to respond. He took out one man immediately with a hit to the shoulder. The other two took shelter behind a nearby car and kept firing. Suddenly a car tire ricocheted off the wall behind the two robbers and slammed one into the car knocking the man out.

The other robber immediately threw down his gun and yelled "I surrender! Call him off!" Just down the street, Ueda saw a man holding another car tire, obviously ready to throw it.

Ueda ran forward toward the robbers while yelling at the martial artist: "Throw it if he moves! Don't worry if I'm in range!" The man with the tire nodded. Ueda tried to keep cover as much as possible. Once he reached the robbers, he saw that the two injured men were unable to hold their weapons and the other was on his knees with his hands behind his head. Ueda kicked the guns away from the robbers. Other policemen were arriving on the scene as well and one helped secure the uninjured man. The rest tended to the two injured and began checking the bystanders.

Ueda motioned the tire man to come forward. "I'll need a statement from you, sir."

The man nodded back, "I'm not going anywhere, Officer," he agreed starting towards Ueda. "But I think you better check on the Sergeant first. He looks like he's in shock."

Ueda turned to Imia having forgotten about him until now. The Sergeant was standing looking down at his hands. Behind him was a small family that seemed to be hugging him from behind. The couple and their two children were crying in relief and had obviously been caught in the shootout. Somehow the Sergeant had protected them. "Sergeant!" Ueda called out. "Imia! Are you all right? Have you been hit?"

Imia slowly looked down at his hands and then looked out at Ueda. The Sergeant gave a short laugh, and then spoke: "'Please honey, take some lessons,' she said. 'You have real promise – I wish I had you when you were younger,' the old man said. 'You always look so relaxed after lessons' my eldest once told me. It's been seven years since I started…"

Ueda walked up to the Sergeant. "Are you all right, Sarge?" Ueda asked him.

Imia handed five bullets to Ueda, one at a time. The small family still clung to him. Then Imia sighed, "Now, I have to put myself in the bloody Book!"

* * *

Footnotes:

(1) "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!" was recorded by Canadian country music artist Shania Twain and was released in 1999. It was co-written by Shania Twain and Robert John Lange. Lange also produced it.

(2) This was established in the story "Brothers", Chapter 11.

* * *

A/N: Too many people have asked where I got the nick-name 'Himself' for Ranma, so I need to answer it. The Irish (and the Irish-American) use an expression "Tis Himself" or "Himself". It has a number of meanings depending on the situation:

(1) If a person joins an on-going conversation and the conversation mentioned the person a little before-hand or the participants were expecting the person, one of the people may use the expression to introduce the person into the conversation by using the phrase "Tis Himself". No doubt many people talk about Ranma in Nerima and he is well known, so this may apply.

(2) A woman may refer to her husband as "Himself" (not applicable to Ranma – while Akane is happy to date Ranma in this continuum, she is definitely not married to him). It's not exactly a term of respect – depends on the relationship (an example: "I'd better go. Himself will be home looking for dinner soon.")

(3) The expression may be a third party reference regarding a person who thinks that they are more important than they really are, that the world revolves around them, or has an extremely large ego. It's a joking or mocking expression. For example, a small town mayor who acts as if he is the governor of a country may be referred to as Himself (but not directly) by the townspeople. A practical usage: "I see Himself was showing off his new golf clubs that the Town Council gave him for the hundredth time today." This usage definitely applies to Mr. Macho.

I have a T-shirt with "Tis Himself" emblazoned on it that my wife gave me. I'm not really sure if it's due to (2) or (3) and I'm afraid to ask. However, it is very appropriate as I am an American citizen who was naturalized at age 17. I am originally from County Waterford in Ireland.

Obviously, one of the policeman or Town Council members took a vacation in Ireland fairly recently and heard the expression, then brought it home to Nerima. If you get a chance to visit Ireland, I highly recommend it.

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A/N: Thanks for reading the story. A special thanks to Compucles, Wharpt, Flameraven1, Archangel on the Hill, Windsbane, leoness, supermangageek23, Error4North, and Janissa for your reviews and encouragement!

Short break for a little bit, and then I have a one-shot story about Akane and Tofu - "Her Second Favorite Teacher".

Take care!

Skystrider


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